Benefit Beauty’s Use of Hashtags

ByHoma Zaryouni ·

20 February 2014

Featured as a Flash of Genius in our Intelligence Report: Instagram, Benefit Cosmetics showed some of the best uses of hashtags among brands assessed in our report. To promote its “They’re Real” mascara, Benefit Beauty launched a campaign asking fans to post photos of their coated lashes tagged #realsies for a chance to win a yearlong supply. They responded with 11,900 selfies. The brand also encouraged those who used their brow products to tag selfies with #benebrows, and gathered 5,100 photos.

Another Benefit hashtag that resonated with Instagrammers was #InnerBeauties, made in partnership with the anti-bullying “Love is Louder” movement. Benefit created daily challenges such as “post positivity” and “lend a hand” for a week, and enlisted vloggers and celebrities such selfie queen Kendall Jenner to post pictures with the hashtag and appear in videos to mobilize fans. Photos from all campaigns are posted on the site in a gallery called “Benebabes”. Benefit’s success shows creative hashtags incorporating the brand name and celebrity and vlogger endorsement can go a long way.